As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option is an information handling system. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements may vary between different applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software resources that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Information handling systems are often coupled together into networks or clusters in order to share resources or perform large processing tasks efficiently. Networks of information handling systems are typically created by coupling the individual information handling systems to an external router. The router functions to receive communications from the information handling systems, determine the target of the communications, and forward the communications to the target information handling system. Routers can couple between several and several hundred information handling systems, depending on the application. Therefore, routers can themselves be large, complex devices that consume large amounts of power. Also, the larger the network served by a router, the longer it takes for the router to determine the target of a communication and forward it to the target information handling system.
The use of the same reference symbols in different drawings indicates similar or identical items.